Discovery Princess Dining Guide: Included Food and Specialty Restaurants

Discovery Princess has three included dining rooms, a buffet, a 24-hour café, pool-deck food, sit-down casual venues, classic specialty restaurants, and one unusually scarce experience in 360.

Keep those categories separate, use the free foundation first, and reserve 360 or a favorite paid restaurant only when its format truly matters.

Crown Grill currently costs $55 per adult plus a 20% service charge on a U.S.-priced Discovery sailing, making the base total $66 before extras; children ages 3-11 have a $27.50 cover before service. Choose it for a deliberate steakhouse evening rather than replacing included dinners automatically.

At Crown Grill, my starting order is the blue-cheese onion soup followed by filet mignon; choose the shellfish bisque if you want seafood from the first course. The sample menu charges extra for dry-aged cuts and surf and turf, so compare that supplement with a regular steak before ordering.

360’s $149 cover becomes $178.80 with the 20% service charge, and it is excluded from Plus and Premier dining benefits. The dedicated 360 page sets a minimum age of 12 and two nightly seatings of only 20 guests, so confirm family eligibility and availability before making it the celebration plan.

Learn the Discovery Princess dining categories first

• Gigi’s is casual dining. Its sit-down cover or package benefit differs from included Slice pizza.
• 360 is publicly bookable on Discovery. You can reserve it for a special evening when seats are available.
• Reserve Collection dining is a cabin benefit. It is not a general specialty booking.
• OceanNow is delivery. It is not a deli counter or a place to stand in line.
• Exact prices belong to current official pages or the portal. Do not use a generic old fee appendix.

Start with the included meals

The official Discovery Princess page confirms a complimentary main-dining program, World Fresh Marketplace, International Café, Slice Pizzeria, The Salty Dog Grill, and Swirls. It separately lists specialty, casual, chef-led, and delivery choices, which is the useful planning framework.

Use the included restaurants for most meals, then buy a specialty dinner for a cuisine or format you particularly want; music at Crooners or O’Malley’s can follow dinner without another dining reservation.

Skagway, Ketchikan, and Juneau are the main dining rooms

Discovery Princess’s deck plan identifies Skagway, Ketchikan, and Juneau as its three main dining rooms. They serve the included rotating menu through Traditional, Flexible, or Walk-in dining options rather than functioning as three unrelated cuisines.

Choose the room assigned to your dining preference, then let location and wait time guide later visits. Selected breakfast or lunch service can make a dining room a calmer alternative to the buffet, but the daily schedule decides which room is open.

Reserve Collection dining is a cabin benefit

Reserve Collection dining is an exclusive section of a main dining room for eligible Reserve Collection mini-suite guests. The benefit includes expedited seating, additional menu choices, a dedicated team, and tableside elements rather than a public specialty cover.

If your cabin includes Reserve dining, use the benefit before paying for more dinners. If your cabin does not include it, use the regular dining rooms or book a specialty dinner for a different experience.

World Fresh Marketplace and International Café cover opposite schedules

World Fresh Marketplace is the large included buffet, useful for broad breakfast and lunch choice, while International Café in the Piazza operates 24 hours with croissants, quiche, salads, sandwiches, desserts, and specialty coffee. The café’s food and premium beverages can follow different inclusion rules.

Make one buffet lap before filling a plate and use International Café when you need a small odd-hour meal. A pastry counter is not a substitute for every dinner, but it is one of the ship’s most practical timing tools.

Slice, Salty Dog Grill, and Swirls are the pool-deck trio

Slice Pizzeria is the included top-deck pizza counter, The Salty Dog Grill handles burgers and casual grilled food, and Swirls provides soft-serve ice cream. These are walk-up concepts rather than waiter-served dining rooms.

Use them for a pool lunch or quick snack and check current hours before assuming every counter stays open late. Their value is speed and convenience, not a reservation or package credit.

Gigi’s and O’Malley’s are casual dining

Gigi’s Pizzeria by Alfredo is a sit-down restaurant for made-to-order Neapolitan-style pizza, and O’Malley’s Irish Pub combines food, drinks, and music. Both belong to Princess’s casual dining category rather than the automatic fare-included list.

The current official Gigi’s sample menu says its cover includes an appetizer, pizza, and dessert, with prices and offerings subject to change. Confirm the sailing’s cover and package eligibility in the app.

Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, and The Catch answer different cravings

Crown Grill is the classic steakhouse, Sabatini’s is the Italian trattoria, and The Catch by Rudi is Discovery’s seafood-focused specialty restaurant. They are physical restaurants with separate menus, not interchangeable premium labels.

At Sabatini’s, look for the ricotta tortello or truffle fettuccine when pasta is the reason for booking, then choose branzino or ossobuco for a fuller dinner. Save room for tiramisu rather than adding an extra pasta course simply because the restaurant feels like an occasion.

Choose Crown Grill for carefully aged beef, Sabatini’s for a paced Italian dinner, and The Catch when seafood is the clear goal. Sample menus establish the style, while the live menu controls exact dishes and supplements.

Ocean Terrace and Gelato are à la carte stops

Ocean Terrace is the sushi and seafood bar for items such as sushi, sashimi, sake, and wine, while Gelato sells premium frozen desserts. Their à la carte model is different from a fixed casual cover or specialty dinner.

Use Ocean Terrace for a smaller sushi meal and Gelato for a deliberate treat. Neither needs to consume a prime dinner slot when the goal is simply a few bites.

Reserve 360 for a seven-course immersive dinner

Princess’s official 360 page confirms the seven-course multisensory dinner on Discovery Princess at $149 per guest plus service charge for ages 12 and older. It lists two seatings nightly with 20 guests each, making this a reservation worth making early.

Princess says booking opens six months in advance after the cruise fare is paid in full or for Captain’s Circle Elite guests, and the menu stays private by design. Dietary needs can be requested through the Dine Line or app, but confirm suitability before paying.

Chef’s Table Lumiere and Crab Shack fill narrower roles

Chef’s Table Lumiere is a limited-capacity multicourse event hosted by the executive chef, with champagne and hors d’oeuvres before dinner. Crab Shack is a pop-up in World Fresh Marketplace featuring items such as chowder, popcorn shrimp, and a seafood steamer pot.

Reserve Chef’s Table for the hosted experience and look for Crab Shack in the daily schedule rather than assume it is a permanent restaurant. Exact pricing and dates belong to the current sailing.

Ultimate Balcony Dining is a service, not a restaurant

Ultimate Balcony Dining brings a dedicated breakfast or dinner experience to an eligible private balcony. It should be evaluated as premium cabin service rather than counted as another public dining room.

Check the current menu, price, weather, and balcony suitability in the booking portal. A cabin image may sell the atmosphere, but the value depends on wanting the private service itself.

OceanNow and room service are delivery services

OceanNow uses the Princess app and Medallion to deliver selected food and drinks to eligible ship locations or the cabin, while phone room service is specifically a cabin order. Neither is a sandwich counter, dining room, or venue with a queue.

The exact ship pages currently publish a $14.99 per-person, per-voyage OceanNow activation and a $5 fee for each room-service order placed by cabin phone, with delivery fees waived for Plus and Premier guests. Menu-item charges can still apply, so review the order total before confirming.

Reservations should follow scarcity

Reserve limited-capacity chef experiences first, followed by the group’s must-have specialty dinner and a preferred main-dining time. Included cafés, buffets, grills, and pizza counters can remain flexible.

Princess’s official reservation guidance explains app-based dining choices, but the sailing’s live availability is what matters. Leave at least one dinner open for a port delay or newly released table.

Shows, spa time, and dinner need one schedule

Princess Theater performances, spa appointments, and long meals compete for the same evening hours. Place a fixed-time 360 or Chef’s Table reservation first, then fit a show or treatment around it with a realistic walking buffer.

A relaxed buffet or café meal can be the better choice on an already crowded day. Dining is more enjoyable when it supports the itinerary instead of becoming another source of deadlines.

Princess Plus and Premier change the casual-dining math

Princess’s current dining guidance says Plus includes four casual dining meals per guest per voyage, while Premier includes unlimited casual and specialty dining. The booking confirmation should still control because package names, inclusions, and service limits can change.

Compare the package price with the meals, drinks, and connectivity you expect to use rather than assign maximum value to every benefit. A guest satisfied with the main dining rooms, buffet, pizza counter, grill, and café may need fewer upgrades than the restaurant count suggests.

Budget the cover charge and service charge together

Princess publishes a 20% service charge on optional dining, drinks, and other elected purchases that are not part of the cruise fare. Use the booking portal or current onboard menu for each restaurant’s exact price rather than import a stale fleetwide cover.

À la carte sushi, gelato, wine, coffee, and marked supplements are separate decisions from a casual or specialty package meal. Keeping those purchases visible prevents small upgrades from disappearing into the room account.

Families and dietary needs benefit from the included core

The buffet, pizza counter, pool grill, International Café, and main dining rooms give families several familiar choices without forcing everyone into one paid concept. Save a specialty booking for a restaurant the whole table wants.

For allergies or medically necessary diets, notify Princess before sailing and discuss the plan with the dining team onboard. A waiter-served room can support a deliberate conversation, but ingredients, preparation, and cross-contact still need confirmation for each order.

A practical seven-night plan

Start with a main-dining-room dinner, followed by one casual pizza or pub meal and one classic specialty dinner. Add a second specialty or chef-led experience only when its format genuinely matters to the group.

The buffet and café can cover efficient breakfasts, the pool counters can handle a casual lunch, and a port-day dinner should stay flexible. That sequence samples the ship without turning food into seven appointments.

Dining mistakes to avoid

Keep the sit-down pizzerias separate from included Slice, OceanNow separate from physical counters, and Reserve Collection dining separate from publicly bookable specialties. Restaurants, counters, wine bars, delivery, and cabin-category benefits all have different rules.

The simplest budget is included dinners most nights, one casual pizza or pub meal and a specialty restaurant you particularly want. Add 360 only when the immersive, seven-course format sounds more appealing than an ordinary night out.

Continue planning with the deck guide, things to do, cruise tips, best cabins, pros and cons, cabins to avoid.

My Discovery Princess verdict

Discovery Princess can be an easy no-upcharge dining cruise, but 360 and the ship’s current specialty restaurants create meaningful reasons to spend. Choose one scarce experience and one favorite cuisine rather than book everything.

For comparisons, read the Disney Treasure dining guide, the Carnival Jubilee dining guide, and the live Restaurants & Dining archive. Those guides make different cruise-line inclusions easier to compare.